Day Ten: Good is Bad

Last night I decided to stay as close to the BMW dealer as possible. This obviously required me to drive to the dealer to know exactly where he was. A quick look at the internet scored the address with directions. I was tired and decided to just remember the highway number and exit. I would stop if I got that far and get the actual address. With that plan I found the exit and pulled over in front of what appeared to be a vacant building. As I was digging in my pockets for the actual street address, I look to my right and see motorcycles lined up inside the window. I had driven right to the dealer. Next time the place will be easier to find since the signs were being put up this morning as my bike was being checked out.

The people at the shop were great. Took my bike in immediately and began running diagnostics and updating software. Turns out the problem with the speedometer and odometer was a worn out connector to a sensor on the rear wheel. With none in stock, the mechanic did what he could to fix the existing one. And it held! Well, it held for exactly 104 miles which is how long it took to hit the Mississippi border! A quick call reinforced that the problem was just with a sensor and there would be no harm in riding on.  Fortunately I have an old GPS unit mounted on the bike which provides speed and miles driven.

Do you remember all of those things I love about motorcycles? The changing texture of air, the medley of aromas, the way the temperature fluctuates as you pass different types of terrain? Today I hated all of that! The air was extremely humid, the aroma was of fresh black top, and the temperature fluctuated from unbearably hot to something even hotter! While the actual temperature was supposedly just 106, the states I drove through have made a concerted effort to put about 6 layers of fresh, black pavement on top of every inch of road surface. That surface took the sun’s rays and did some kind of highly efficient conversion to thermal energy. The regular road surface was hot enough – but every time I hit a fresh section it was like someone turned on an industrial shrink wrap machine.

The heat was so bad (and I didn’t get to start until Noon because of the mechanical issues), that my cell phone displayed a message that it was too hot to charge. I only covered 363 miles: Birmingham, AL, to Tupelo, MS, to Memphis, TN, to Little Rock, AR. I actually had to stop and take a nap in Mississippi to recoup some energy. Then I took my whole shirt and saturated it with water. Felt incredible (for about 10 minutes by which time it had completely dried)! I made one additional non-gas stop which was to fix a quick meal at a rest stop in Arkansas. It was so humid there that the bugs couldn’t bite me because they slid right off every time they tried to land!  Finally stopped for the night a bit after 11p.

Tomorrow I plan to get an early start, find someplace to hide out in the shade or AC mid day, then ride well into the night. That should work much better. For now I will go to bed to get some rest before pulling an early start in the morning…